The Dark Knight Rises Batman's knee injury

[Bane Cook]

Anybody else think they should have left his knee injured and not try to come up with some way to fix it? First off, it didn't make much sense. Second, it was completely ignored anyway for the last half of the movie.
They should have just left the knee injured for the duration of the movie and left it at that. It would add that much more to the first fight scene knowing he's rusty, out of shape, has no purpose to live, AND has a bum knee. And it would make his ascent at the end of the movie that much greater knowing he overcame all that.

thoughts?

 

[Tequilla]

Anybody else think they should have left his knee injured and not try to come up with some way to fix it? First off, it didn't make much sense. Second, it was completely ignored anyway for the last half of the movie.
They should have just left the knee injured for the duration of the movie and left it at that. It would add that much more to the first fight scene knowing he's rusty, out of shape, has no purpose to live, AND has a bum knee. And it would make his ascent at the end of the movie that much greater knowing he overcame all that.

thoughts?

In visual mediums , physical condition sometimes are manifestations of something else beyond the body. Its an easy representation of Bruce's state. Physical , Emotional , and Spiritually. Bruce's physical representations along the movie , parallel his state.

Him being limp in the beginning of the story , is a vital aspect to Bruce's condition. We , as audience , immediately absorb a lot about the character. Its not only the knee that's damaged.

 

[The Joker]

If Bruce had been totally shut off from the world since the end of TDK it would have made more sense. But apparently he was still doing things up until 3 years ago when his energy project fell through. So it makes you wonder why he never fixed his leg in those first 5 years.

Yeah, it was supposed to be symbolic of his degenerative state, but it still didn't make much sense.

 

[Ant-LOX]

It made sense in a way. I don't think he wanted to recover from it. That single night was very emotionally charged, when Dent Died. He was also shot, remember.

The fix was good enough for me. Hell, at least he went to a doctor, imagine if he wouldn't have went, the cries would be ungodly on here.

 

[Dwarf Slayer]

I think his knee injury should have been a somatoform disorder caused by his failure with Harvey. A somatoform disorder is pretty much a physical ailment caused by a mental disorder. It fits right in line with Nolan love of the human mind and its power over the individual.

Bruce's doctor visit could have been used as a device to explain a somatoform disorder to the audience. Bruce should have used the knee brace for his first confrontation with Bane, but be stripped of it when he is thrown into the pit. It's only when Bruce embraces his fear of death and escapes the pit where his mind is fully recovered and the limp goes away. That also works with the whole "lazarus pit" metaphor and Bruce being reborn when he escapes.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Bruce doctor visit could have been used as a device to explain what a somatoform disorder is to the audience.

That would be a new verbal exposition low for Nolan. Thank the lord that didn't happen.

 

[KalMart]

Yes, it was ultimately about more than just the knee. It was the overall toll on his body and emotional state that was really important. The knee was at least and attempt to add some detail, even though it had its own pitfalls in execution. How that brace was somehow able to not only empower his leg to he point of being able to kick through stone/concrete, but protect the sneaker-clad ankle and foot bones from shattering is...well...'creative license'.

 

[747]

No, cause I really liked the leg brace scene.

 

[KalMart]

That would be a new verbal exposition low for Nolan.

Or par the course, depending on who you ask.

 

[Dwarf Slayer]

How that brace was somehow able to not only empower his leg to he point of being able to kick through stone/concrete, but protect the sneaker-clad ankle and foot bones from shattering is...well...'creative license'.

Yes, as was Bane breaking those stone pillars with his fists at the end.

Those two parts really stuck out for me. I know Nolan's movies aren't completely realistic, but he was really embracing the comic book roots the characters in those scenes.

 

[KalMart]

Yes, as was Bane breaking those stone pillars with his fists at the end.

Those two parts really stuck out for me. I know Nolan's movies aren't completely realistic, but he was really embracing the comic book roots the characters in those scenes.

And he's rendered helpless by breaking just one of many small tubes, he cries, then he's shot.

 

[BatLobster]

I took lines about his knee as an indication of arthritis. The line about how he has no cartilage left in his knee pointed to that, as that's what happens when you have arthritis of the knee. On top of that, post-traumatic arthritis can develop years after the initial injury to the knee (the fall from TDK). So it would jive with him being active for a few years after TDK and only becoming a recluse later on. Inactivity would only make it worse.

 

[Baramos]

And he's rendered helpless by breaking just one of many small tubes, he cries, then he's shot.

He died of a broken-heart because Talia said, "Good bye, my friend." He realized he was totally in the friend-zone this entire time.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

I guess it's been covered, but it was done to visually show how defeated Bruce ha become since The Dark Knight, as well as a visual extension of the internalised emotional crippling he suffered at the hands of Joker and Two Face.

From the narrative standpoint, it was a macguffin to explain why he hasn't been Batman in 8 years, hence why it is immediately done away with when no longer convenient.

 

[KalMart]

He died of a broken-heart because Talia said, "Good bye, my friend." He realized he was totally in the friend-zone this entire time.

"It's the mask, isn't it? You can tell me...I'm a big boy..."

 

[Victarion]

I thought he quit Batman because of the Dent Act rather than a bad knee.

 

[The Joker]

I thought he quit Batman because of the Dent Act rather than a bad knee.

He did. His knee injury would not have been beyond repair.

 

[BatLobster]

Exactly. Him waiting all that time to go to a hospital and get it checked out was his own choice and neglect.

 

[Bruce Banner]

As a runner with knee trouble, I have to wear a knee brace, a different type though.

How exactly was Wayne's brace supposed to work anyway? I know it just a thing that pops up in the movie, I've just been curious about it since I watched the movie.

 

[JackWhite]

No, cause I really liked the leg brace scene.

I recently watched the scene where Bruce straps the brace onto his leg for the first time, that scene is golden! The expression Bale puts on his face as it gripes his leg, then his reaction to Alfred, classic Bruce/Alfred moment. I also like how that scene quickly goes from light-hearted to heart wrenching, when Bruce kicks the brick Alfred instantly realizes Bruce isn't using the leg brace to just get back into the real world.

Really great scene.

 

[BatLobster]

I recently watched the scene where Bruce straps the brace onto his leg for the first time, that scene is golden! The expression Bale puts on his face as it gripes his leg, then his reaction to Alfred, classic Bruce/Alfred moment. I also like how that scene quickly goes from light-hearted to heart wrenching, when Bruce kicks the brick Alfred instantly realizes Bruce isn't using the leg brace to just get back into the real world.

Really great scene.

Yeah, I really love that whole scene. Even with the much-maligned Alfred exposition, I really love it. Starts off with some classic Bruce/Alfred banter, then realization sets in for Alfred...the haunting cue from the score kicks in (I think of it as the Bane/Talia/Pit theme) as he warns Bruce what he'll be up against.

"But sometimes...a man rises from the darkness" *insert shot of the suit rising up*. Love how it foreshadows Bruce's own ascent from the darkness while at the same time serving as an ominous warning about who Bane is (and on re-watches, drawing attention to what he isn't).

 

[PyroChamber]

Unless I miss a scene or two, I don't even think it was explained where the brace came from. It's like all of a suddenly he's got this "mechnical?" knee brace that can fix an injury he's had for sometime now.

And it healed him to the point where he didn't need it afterwards, I'm assuming that during his time in the Pit he didn't have it on.

 

[BatLobster]

I think it's implied that Lucius gives it to him. In the script there's a line where he asks Bruce if he'll at least let him give him something for that knee, whereas in the movie it just cuts straight from him with Lucius to him in the cave with the brace on.

Speaking of which, I think they shot that scene too. There's that TV spot that has a cut bit that I think immediately precedes that part. Damn, wish we could see the full scene, always loved that little "You're retired...I'm retired" bit.

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[redhawk23]

Anybody else think they should have left his knee injured and not try to come up with some way to fix it? First off, it didn't make much sense. Second, it was completely ignored anyway for the last half of the movie.
They should have just left the knee injured for the duration of the movie and left it at that. It would add that much more to the first fight scene knowing he's rusty, out of shape, has no purpose to live, AND has a bum knee. And it would make his ascent at the end of the movie that much greater knowing he overcame all that.

thoughts?

Its a direct reference to The Dark Knight Returns.

 

[storyteller]

And he's rendered helpless by breaking just one of many small tubes, he cries, then he's shot.

Bane is able to push himself harder and resist injury because of the meds. Basically the guy felt everything Batman just dished out at him.